Casper The Unfriendly Ghost
by jemb
Summary: On a dark and chilly night, Booth and Brennan find themselves experiencing something out of the ordinary...and scary  ONESHOT


_**I had every intention of posting this on Halloween itself but my pumpkin carving, scary movie watching party kinda got in the way so…**_

_**Based loosely on an old episode of The X-Files (How the Ghosts stole Christmas), in that I've stuck our partners together in a creepy old house, this is my first attempt at writing a scary story. I wrote it whilst listening to Marilyn Manson's version of Sweet Dreams – a suitably creepy song I think. The story can be read without the song playing but trust me, if you put Sweet Dreams on repeat, this story will give you chills. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!**_

On a chilly October evening, Special Agent Seeley Booth stood at the end of a gravel footpath leading to a set of worn stone steps. A low ground fog swirled around his feet and despite wearing a thick leather jacket, T-shirt and jeans, the cold wind from an approaching storm still penetrated through to his skin, chilling him to the core. The steps before him led to the battered and broken front porch of an old boarded up mansion in the outskirts of the city. The mansion was set well back from the nearest road in a large plot of land filled with dead trees and overgrown grass and bushes. The only light in the dark night came from the full moon peeking out from the black and cloudy sky above. His eyes travelled from the broken slates on the roof down past the dirty windows to the heavy wooden front door and Booth shuddered. The structure of the house reminded him of the DeFeo home in Amityville and just thinking about the horrors associated with that house sent shivers down his spine.

"You're not afraid of an old house are you?" Upon hearing his cynical partner's voice, Booth turned to face Brennan as she stood looking at him with a sly grin on her face.

"Of course I am not scared Bones." He retorted.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she planted a hand on her hip and her smirk turned into a smile, daring him to go forward.

"I was just admiring the architecture." He lied. Truthfully, he had been wondering if coming to such a remote location alone had been a good idea. They were only looking for a murder weapon or something to connect to their suspect, but Booth had enough experience to know that even the simplest of tasks could go awry.

"Mmm hmm." She muttered, shaking her head at him as she tugged her jacket closer across her front.

"What?" Booth asked defensively, sensing she didn't believe him.

"You shuddered." Brennan turned to face the house and her gaze drifted up to the attic window on the top floor.

"I did not shudder." Booth denied as he tightened his jaw and straightened his shoulders, not wanting his partner to think he was nervous.

"You shuddered." She turned back to Booth and stared at him.

"Why would I shudder, Bones? It's just a house."

Cocking her head to the side Brennan's eyebrows furrowed. "You're looking at the house like the main character does in one of those generic horror movies; like you've been told the house is haunted but you're going in anyway and you take a moment to psych yourself up." She explained.

"You watch horror movies?" Booth asked in disbelief.

"I'm not _that_ socially inept." Brennan rolled her eyes. "So are we going in?" Brennan began to tap her boot clad foot impatiently.

"Of course we're going in Bones." Booth puffed out his chest and walked purposefully up the weed covered gravel path towards the steps, the small stones crunching under his footsteps, sounding exceptionally loud compared to the silence of the night. Brennan took a quick glance up at the house and her attention was drawn back to the attic. The moonlight illuminated the window and as Brennan stared at it, a dark shadow appeared. She inhaled sharply and held her breath, transfixed by the dark image. It looked like the outline of a human as it seemed to hover in the window. For a moment she wondered if maybe someone was in the house.

When Booth reached the first step he turned to see why Brennan wasn't following him and he found her staring up at the attic window much like he had been just moments earlier. Her arms were wrapped tightly across her torso as the cold wind whipped around her, blowing her hair across her face and ruffling the fabric of her jeans around her ankles.

"Bones?" Brennan snapped her gaze to him and pulled a lock of hair from her cheek. "What's wrong? See a ghost?" he joked.

"Of course not. Non-caporial entities are merely a figment of the imagination, created out of human desire for immortality and the need to believe in a continuation of life after death. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support their existence." As she spoke, Booth found himself rolling his eyes. He should have known that Brennan would have some logical explanation to discount the potential existence of something supernatural. Still, he felt she sounded a little unconvincing and wondered if maybe she wasn't so sure of her own reasoning.

Brennan's gaze shifted from Booth to the house where she was drawn back to the attic window at the very top. She noticed that the shadow she saw there a moment ago had disappeared and she quickly rationalised the incident as a combination of the dark night and Booth putting ideas into her head with all the talk of ghosts. Shaking it off, she hurried to join Booth at the foot of the steps and the two ascended towards the solid wooden door which was gently rattling against the doorframe in the cold wind. Years of neglect had caused the hinges to loosen and Booth wondered how safe the rest of the house would be. As he pushed the heavy door open, it let out an audible creek and Booth knew they were about to find out.

Booth stepped across the threshold first, coughing a little as the dust disturbed by opening the door caught in his throat. He brushed away a few cobwebs from near his face and stepped further inside to let Brennan come in behind him and out of the cold wind. He turned on his flashlight and shone the wide beam around the entrance hall. Directly in front of them there was a large wooden staircase with sturdy looking banisters that led to the first floor. An old deep green carpet lined the stairs and Booth could make out a distinct worn track up the middle where the footsteps of the residents would have been concentrated when the house was occupied. There were rooms on the right and left of the door and a long hallway behind the staircase leading to further rooms. The mansion was considerable in size and Booth knew it was going to take some time to work their way through it.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here in years." Brennan announced from behind Booth, which him just a little because her voice was amplified in volume by the acoustics of the entrance hall. Everything around them was coated in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs were everywhere, including dangling from the old wrought iron chandelier hanging above their heads. She turned on her own flashlight and moved away from Booth, stepping through the open double doors of the room on the left of the main entrance. Her footsteps echoed loudly as she moved across the old wooden floorboards.

"What are we looking for exactly?" she asked Booth as she shone her light around what she identified as a study. There was a large wall to ceiling bookcase which held enough books to be classified as a library, a large oak desk near the window with a worn brown leather chair behind it, and a small wooden coffee table in the centre of the room beside a moth eaten green velvet couch. When Booth didn't answer her question immediately, she turned around and was momentarily worried when she didn't see him. "Booth?" she called, taking a few tentative steps towards the other side of the entrance hall. All she could hear was the sound of her own footsteps. "Booth?" she called again, this time a little louder. She still got no response so she carried on forward, using her flashlight to guide her. Rather than feeling fear, she was annoyed that Booth had wandered off leaving her on her own. As she walked into the room on the far side of the hall she called Booth's name once again, her heart beginning to beat a little faster when he again failed to respond to her.

As she stood at the entrance to the room, looking at all the furniture covered in dust sheets, she didn't hear soft footsteps creeping up behind her. Suddenly a hand gripped her shoulder at the same time as a sharp crack of lightening lit up the room, and Brennan jumped, letting out a gasp of terror. As she spun to face whatever attacked her, her fear quickly turned to anger.

"Booth! What did you do that for?" She scolded. Booth looked a little sheepish as he stood before her.

"Sorry Bones, I couldn't help it." He shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips.

"It wasn't funny." She pouted.

"You're just saying that because I scared you." He said smugly.

"You didn't scare me." She insisted. Booth stared her down and raised his eyebrows, sure he had frightened her a little and wanting her to admit it, if only to get her back for teasing him out front.

"Okay, maybe you scared me a little…" she paused. "But it's an irrational fear." She added, unable to conceal the truth with his deep brown eyes penetrating her blue ones.

"Come on Bones, there's a lot of ground to cover in here." He quickly changed the subject, knowing getting back to the task at hand would distract her from his prank.

"Maybe we should split up then?" Brennan offered. She wasn't entirely comfortable with being alone in what was beginning to seem like an unsettling building but she wanted to prove to Booth she wasn't a wimp after he scared her. Booth was surprised to hear her suggest this and that surprise registered on his face as his eyebrows raised and his eyes widened.

"You're not afraid to be on your own are you?" Brennan smirked.

"Hey, you're the one who squealed when I touched your shoulder." He retorted. Brennan's response was to shove Booth's shoulder with her hand and push past him.

"I'll be upstairs." She told him as she headed for the grand staircase in the middle of the entrance hall.

"Just yell if you find any weapons okay." Booth told her. "And be careful. The floors in these old houses are notoriously dangerous. I don't want you falling through them." Brennan just waved a hand over her shoulder to acknowledge him as she began to ascend the stairs. Booth shook his head as he watched her go. Sometimes she was infuriating – so independent and insistent on proving to him she was capable of taking care of herself.

Left alone on the ground floor, Booth began to take a cursory look around what appeared to be the den. The mansion certainly showed no signs of anyone having been there for many years. The dust on the wooden floors at Booth's feet was undisturbed and the stale air suggested the windows and doors hadn't been cracked open in many years. Using his flashlight, Booth began peering under dust sheets and opening drawers, looking for a weapon they could connect to the murder or murderer. If their witness was correct, their suspect had hidden the evidence here, believing no-one would find it for a very long time, if ever. As he moved around the room he wondered if this was a wild goose chase. Surely if their suspect had been here there would be some sign of that.

The sudden creaking of floorboards above his head startled Booth at first, until he realised it was just Brennan making her way through the upper floor. He laughed a little at his quick jump to a different conclusion. He figured with all his talk of ghosts, he had spooked himself a little. As he continued his search, he blocked out the creaking but he could not block out the next noise he heard. Crouching on the ground to peer into a cabinet, Booth heard what sounded like a wail. He cocked his head to the side and listened carefully, this time hearing the noise more clearly.

"Bones?" he stood up and called out to his partner but he got no response. The wail became louder and Booth believed it sounded like a young woman, distressed. Immediately believing something to have happened to Brennan, Booth left the den and headed for the main stairs.

He only took two steps up when a loud banging noise from one of the back rooms drew his attention. He looked up the stairs then turned around and began to make his way to the back of the mansion, his hand resting on his gun at his hip. He couldn't take the chance that they might not be alone here. The banging noise grew louder as he approached a heavy wooden door halfway down the back hallway. Taking his gun out and shining his flashlight directly in front of him, Booth cautiously pushed the door open. Light from his flashlight bounced off a large mirror hanging above a fireplace and Booth was able to see his own reflection. In the dark night he looked decidedly pale, almost ghostly.

As Booth took a look around for the source of the banging, he felt a sudden chill in the air. When he breathed out he saw his own breath, like on a cold winter day. The banging noise persisted but Booth could see nothing in the room moving. The window was closed tightly with a thick wooden board nailed across it and all the furniture in the room was motionless. Yet as Booth moved across the large room, the banging continued and seemed to grow louder until Booth couldn't stand the noise. As he turned to leave the room, his eyes caught the mirror above the fireplace and they widened in shock. Scrawled messily across the mirror in large letters was the word "RUN". He knew that word was not on the mirror only moments ago when he entered and he couldn't deny the rapid beating of his heart as he stared at it. When he shone his light on the mirror to get a better look, he saw the letters were written in red…in what looked like blood. As the banging persisted, Booth heard a haunting whisper in his ear that gripped his heart with fear. A shallow voice was repeating the same word over and over…RUN…RUN…

Upstairs, Brennan made her way slowly down the seemingly endless hallway. Lining the walls on each side were oil paintings of who she assumed were the ancestors of the owner of the mansion. Some looked very old with faded colours and scratches on the paintwork, while others appeared to be more recent. She shone her flashlight on each one as she passed, noticing how each figure was posed almost identically, their eyes painted empty and their lips turned down in she interpreted as a grimace. When she reached the end of the hall she shone her light on the final portrait; a young woman in a white dress with her hair pulled up into a bun on her head. As she studied the image before her, Brennan gasped when it appeared that the eyes of the woman blinked. After a moment to collect herself, Brennan took a step closer and studied the woman's eyes intensely. This time there was no movement and Brennan chuckled a little at herself for getting caught up in things. Turning away she reached for the door handle to the room directly in front of her but a sudden banging noise from downstairs made her snap her head around. She listened for a moment but as quickly as it started it stopped and she assumed it was just Booth clattering around looking for evidence. She turned her attention back to the task at hand and pushed open the door.

Stepping inside, Brennan found herself in a bedroom. The focus of the room was a magnificent four poster bed, draped in white linens that rustled as a soft wind crept in through the cracks around the window. Extravagant looking pillows and cushions in faded regal colours were spread out at the headboard and in the centre was a china doll, its hair covered in cobwebs and its little white dress stained with something dark. As Brennan looked around the sparse room she spotted a large oak wardrobe against the wall in the far corner. She made her way over and after taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door. The wardrobe was empty with the exception of a moth eaten jacket hanging at the back. She shone her flashlight all around the inside and crouched down to the check the bottom for a hidden floor. As she concentrated on her task, she felt the room grow colder and had the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. She glanced quickly over her shoulder and was startled by what she saw. What looked like the train of a white dress disappeared out the door into the hallway before Brennan could get a good look. She immediately jumped to her feet and hurried out the room but all she saw was an empty dark hallway. Putting it down to an overactive imagination, Brennan was about to head back into the bedroom when she shuddered and felt goose bumps all over her arms. Standing in the doorway facing the four poster bed, she watched with growing alarm as a dark shadow seemed to form before her eyes. Her rational mind tried to explain it but failed and Brennan backed away from the door in fear, her heart pounding wildly. As she moved, the shadow seemed to come towards her and soon Brennan was moving faster and frantically calling out to her partner as she backed down the hallway.

On the ground floor, Booth was experiencing more unusual activity. As he made his way around the many rooms, he kept hearing the wailing noises, the crashing and banging along with striking thunder and lightening, though the whisper in his ear had stopped as soon as he stumbled out of that particular room. He was nervous and unsettled but refused to believe that it was anything supernatural he was hearing and seeing. He had just yet to work out how to explain what had happened. Even if he couldn't, he knew Brennan would have a logical rational explanation. She was the scientist, not he. Being so large, it seemed to take Booth forever to make his way back around the mansion to the main staircase. When Booth finally reached it, he faintly heard Brennan call his name. Taking the stairs two at a time he hurried up, concerned for her after everything he had felt.

On the first floor, Brennan's eyes widened in shock, disbelief and fear as the dark shadow before her began drifting forward. Stumbling backwards she was barely able to keep her footing. As she backed up the hallway, unable to keep her eyes off the vision before her, Brennan couldn't see a small child's tricycle moving towards her by itself, the tiny pedals turning round and round as it crept along the wooden floor silently. When she took another step back her foot caught on the wheel of the tricycle and with a scream, she tripped and stumbled before crashing to the ground on her back, her flashlight rolling out of sight. She watched, terrified, as the dark shadow drew closer until it was hovering over her. A loud rumble of thunder and a crack of lightening momentarily illuminated the hall and the eyes on all the portraits on the wall glowed bright red. Panic seized her heart and with adrenalin pumping through her veins, she scrambled backwards until she was able to haul herself to her feet. Without a second glance at the shadow, Brennan took off running. She had no idea what was going on, where she was going or how she was going to find Booth. She just knew that something very strange was going on in this house and they needed to get out.

Brennan turned corner after corner in the mansion, her feet pounding on the wooden floors as she searched for the staircase to take her back down to Booth. She didn't think she had gone that far from it but she had run down several hallways without coming across it and that worried her. A loud blood curdling scream suddenly startled Brennan and she skidded to a halt as she neared another corner, seeing the image of a woman in a white dress behind her at the end of the hall. The woman's hands were gripping her head as if in extreme pain and a large deep red stain was spread all down the front of the dress – much like the doll Brennan had seen on the bed just a few minutes earlier. As Brennan ran from the frightening image, her panic only grew more when she collided with a solid body and more lightening lit up the hallway. Her first reaction was to scream and she let out a loud shriek at the same time as she flailed around, trying to get away. But whatever she ran into held her tight, preventing her from moving.

"Bones! Bones its me!" Booth shouted to get her attention. Brennan gasped and gripped Booth's upper arms as he held on tightly to hers and their eyes locked, each reflecting the other's fear.

"I saw…Booth, we…"

"I know Bones." He nodded. "Come on." He let go of her arms and took a cursory look around. "This way." He gestured in the direction he had just come from and led the way, keeping Brennan close to his back. She couldn't help but hold onto his arm, the unnerving events she experienced making her feel the need to be close to someone real, someone who could protect her.

As the partners rounded another corner they found themselves before a narrow set of stairs, most likely used by the servants back when the house was occupied. Booth grabbed Brennan's hand and tugged her towards the stairs.

"We don't know where they go?" Brennan protested, tugging back against Booth as he tried to pull her down.

"Bones, this place is freaking me out. These stairs _have_ to lead back to the ground floor." He insisted. "Please, come on." He tugged her hand again and this time Brennan allowed herself to be pulled towards the stairs. As they began to descend, Brennan could hear more screaming and wailing and she gripped Booth's hand tighter, her knuckles turning white with the pressure. The dark stairwell was lit only by Booth's flashlight and as they reached the bottom they found another door to exit. Booth pushed on the door and it creaked open slowly, leading them into a grand looking dining room with a mezzanine level where the walls were covered in shelves and shelves of books.

Brennan and Booth stood in the dining room, staring at the enormous oak table covered in dust. Chairs were strewn across the room like the occupants had jumped up and run in a hurry. Silverware, plates and crystal glasses were still laid out like a feast had been in progress. As they looked around, the light from Booth's flashlight revealed that all the walls were covered in wooden panelling. On one side there was a large fireplace surrounded by a delicately engraved mantel. As the pair stepped into the room the fireplace suddenly roared into life with bright orange and yellow flames billowing out and filling the room with a warmth they had not felt since the safety of the SUV. A quick glance at each other confirmed their mutual fear but they chose not to dwell on it and instead find a way out.

"The door must be disguised; it must be part of the panelling." Brennan gasped. The two searched for a way out by knocking on the walls to find a hollow spot indicating a door. Both felt the temperature in the room drop dramatically and as suddenly as it started, the fire went out, without a hint of the smoke usually left when a fire is extinguished. Once again their breath became visible and the partners turned to look at each other as the temperature continued to drop making them shiver and their teeth chatter. Brennan gripped Booth's forearm tightly and her eyes widened as she looked around the room. To both their horror, a dark liquid began trickling down the walls, slowly coating the wood from floor to ceiling.

"Booth." She whispered, almost inaudibly. As Booth turned his flashlight to one wall, they saw that the liquid was deep red in colour, like blood. Then the wailing and shrieking began again but it was much louder this time and made the pair cringe and covered their ears. A spine tingling, shiver inducing wail echoed throughout the room as the pair split apart and frantically looked for a door. Finally Booth found a hollow spot and located a door handle disguised as a candle holder. He called Brennan over but when he tried to open the door he found it was locked and no matter how hard he rattled the handle or pulled, the door would not budge.

"Booth?" Brennan whispered, her voice heavy with fear. He gritted his teeth and pulled her back across the room to the stairs they had come down. When Brennan realised he wanted her to go back upstairs she immediately became panicked and started shaking her head. Booth had not seen the dark shadow or the woman in the bloody white dress and she had no desire to encounter that again.

"You wanna get out of here?" Booth asked, almost sounding angry. "We have to go back up and find the main staircase." He stared at her and his heart tugged when he saw the fear in her eyes. He knew she was trying to rationalise events but how could she rationalise blood dripping down walls and ghostly wailing. "Come on Bones." He grunted as he tugged her up the stairs. He began to jog, wanting to get out of the narrow hall as quickly as possible. Brennan kept up with him, never letting go of his hand. When they reached the top of the stairs they burst out into the hallway and were once again confronted with a mysterious red liquid dripping down the walls. Booth didn't stop to investigate; he gripped Brennan's hand tightly and pulled her down the hall, his flashlight bouncing around as he ran. As the partners hurried down the halls, past numerous rooms, their doors began to rattle and a bright white light outlined each door as if the rooms inside were illuminated. Neither wanted to voice what was in their heads so they remained silent, focusing their attention on finding the main staircase.

As they turned another corner they were in yet another hallway and it felt to both like they were never going to find their way out. Booth came to a stop, panting for breath. Brennan gripped his hand as she stood close to his back, and looked around her surroundings for something familiar. Suddenly Booth jerked and cursed under his breath. Pointing his flashlight at the floor his eyes widened when he saw hundred of spiders and bugs all over the floor scuttling towards them. Brennan inhaled sharply and looked at the walls to see the bugs there too, surrounding them.

"Booth." She murmered as she backed up, trying move away from the insects. Booth brushed frantically at his jacket and jeans as the bugs began to crawl on him.

"Bones, we need to get out of here…NOW!" he grabbed her hand and together they ran back along the hall, desperation gripping their hearts.

After what seemed an eternity they finally found themselves back at the top of the main staircase. Side by side with their hands linked tightly, they ran down the stairs as banging, wailing and screaming began to assault their ears to the point it hurt their heads. All the windows and doors in the mansion seemed to rattle and bang on their hinges, lights that shouldn't work because the house had no electricity flickered on and off and a strong ice cold wind blew at them, making going forward difficult. A grandfather clock began to chime loudly and Brennan found herself breathing fast and hard, fear coursing through her body. Booth kept going, knowing how important it was that they got out, and he pulled her with him towards the front door. As he yanked on the handle to open the door it didn't budge. Brennan covered his hand with hers and using both their strength they pulled on the door. The wind increased, blowing Brennan's hair wildly and making screeching noises as it squeezed through the cracks in the windows, doors and walls. Brennan glanced behind her and saw the dark shadow and the ghostly woman slowly descending the stairs towards them. Her desire to get out intensified and she pulled on the door handle harder. Just when she was beginning to think they were trapped, everything in the house went dead silent and all activity stopped abruptly. The front door flew open, knocking the pair off their feet with the force and they landed in a heap on the floor at the foot of the stairs. Booth was first to scramble to his feet and he quickly hauled Brennan up, keeping a tight grip of her cold hand. With a quick glance at each other and one last look back at the entrance hall, they ran out of out of the door, their hands still locked together. They rushed down the stone steps and over the gravel path, not stopping until they reached Booth's SUV. Panting, they gazed back up at the mansion and saw the dark shadow at the attic window. Neither could find the words to express what they were feeling so they stood in silence facing the house, rooted to the spot as the dark shadow hovered menacingly in the window. A final blood curdling scream pierced through the cold night air before fading until the partners were once again surrounded by silence.

"Hey Bones." Booth said, trying his best to keep his voice sounding light. "What do you say we come back in the morning, you know, when this place feels less Amityville Horror-ish." Brennan merely nodded and allowed Booth to open the passenger seat door for her. As she climbed in Booth shut the door and hurried around to the driver's side. He glanced back at the house as he reached for the door handle and mumbled "Yeah, coming back when Casper has stopped re-enacting The Grudge and is feeling more like the friendly ghost again, is definitely a good idea."


End file.
